Matthew 6:24

No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money.

1 John 4:18

There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.

Luke 12:25

Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life ?

Ecclesiastes 2:24

Nothing is better for a man than that he should eat and drink, and that his soul should enjoy good in his labor. This also, I saw, was from the hand of God.

Mark 11:25

But if you do not forgive, neither will your Father who is in heaven forgive your trespasses.

Introduction to the 21st Century Picture Bible

We often times read the Bible and affirm what it has to say. It's full of powerful sayings. But what do these passages mean in the context of our globalized 21st Century world?

In 2006, I was in Poland at the SLOT Art Festival. A Christian-anarchist group from the Chech Republic called Godarchy was giving out a booklet called OBRAZKOWA BIBLIA XXI WIEKU ("21st Century Picture Bible"). The pictures juxtaposed with the scripture verses were compelling, and life altering.

You might find some of the pictures offensive - I find some of the pictures offensive. I'm doing this so that we can ask ourselves, Why am I offended by this? Do we hold onto these things so tightly we don't allow the scripture to challenge it?

The scriptures are a "double-edged sword." We use it to cut others down all the time, to prove ourselves righteous. But the scriptures also cut at us, down to the "marrow" - the very center of our being.

I hope you are as challenged by these images as much as I am.